Flexible coupling



p 3, 1952 J. 5. B EECHLER 2,591,769

FLEXIBLE COUPLING 'Filed' March 22, 1947 2 SHEET S-SHEET 1 INVENTOR. Jack J. Beech/er gwjilzflQ an A TTOPNEYS Ap 8, 1952 J. s. BEECHLER 2,591,769

FLEXIBLE COUPLING Filed March 22, 1947 2 SHEETS-'-SHEET z v IINVENI'ORU Jack 6. (Beech/er Q50 B M,

Patented Apr. 8, 1952 UNITED STATES P TE OF ICE assumes; FLEXIEIQE UB JNQ Jee eeh e it M h- Anpli et oh; Maren .2, %Se e el N 7 %64 ajto uetolb h i W eanTbe ea hv Y ee epte t he. l w: cost equire nents of present production methods,

p, froin the point of viewof initial cost, and installation. The device to be described is particularly adaptable to use on control rods for instrui h a els nd. he i e, he e m n e f 919? e r t t will have p he'et en Wh e er m eein sha are conne t d a d wh e ieah geh sees eder ex t be esult due. to he Qt r ain seIhb Y or in Qt er biects 01 the inventi n. w ll be arent a h, eve e h i nre re eee he dhewinfifi 'ehre A a perspec i e iew showing th flesihlee hh ihe, mo nt betwe n We rotatable.

haft Figure 2 is a plan view of a blanl; used to make he flexib e ee e ine- Figure 3 i tre e e formation O the nd of e hi it o t ts etteehmeht ie the, eehhherigur 'e is an eme e planj ew 'et ure/ llus r t ng the manne n whi h ahehl rf e eeehse eh s aeeomh ishee,

Fig re s a ew simi r to i ure 4 llhetretr has a mo ifi d pe e eeh in and et ehiheht 'eer s e, "1,, and ustre e the lank and Y l Q l R PIl$ of e m fied r i n o he dev e wherein each wing has two folds. Lines :emi -eh Fi ur s 9- end res eehive y ih reletieh i he tw e ere l0. llhe r-et e mod fied me he e tach v ew at e eehx l ied ie h ma 10. L 'e e ee hleh hes twele nd: 11. an ee e xt eh '2- Each. lee ispunehed at: 5 h provid a honey; h l with diametrically opposed notches l6. Each leg is punohed to provide an elongated hole l8 between the end and the corner. The material from which the blank is formed is preferably spring stock which may be heat treated to provide ih ehiieh ee em le e eh resilient or spring material.

To form the flexible coupling, each leg is bent o Fig.

Fi ur :2; a.

upon itself so that the portion which was formerly outwardly extending lies over the corneror central portion l2. One leg is bent to one side Qi'i the oorner portion and the other leg is bent to the other side. Each leg is connected to the orner portion by a rounded bight 20, Figures 1 and 4.

When formed, the coupling may be described as a combination of two ush aped membershav: g g: one leg in common, the other legs lying on o pos te. s des of. theee eh lee eisiehtee lee iee e hele- T T e-he es i h e lees teh 1..1v ll e ee; t r'e i .e edh denaleofash 2.. i

a ing the shaft {1gp to the coupling, the nd I throughthe hole ea tew l hit e hset i9? I ride i eeki e eeheh he (he so, w,,.e m i. ov r heme i s 49 '3'! V v also flow int the no hes.

rotation between the as to which it, is connected. e be e eemplished y i re wh e e ehd St kin the hammer. It is pQefrably d y eert he h ee ld ehe h h me it w h the electrode o e Weld heeh e the .erefliefle het' e eehehee b t me. we pe n V p when both. reds 2Y1- ejr eeeemhl e e. fl xible he i e e erev eeee hewhi i ereeeeeeh lar compensat'on between the shaft in th tien o e tweet hr he b so h a cent reg 1e Upon thehe dihe we e he teens h e e h lee ll- Threheheu the eh he h t there. is e ereeluelf tieheiereeee. o 11 em 'ehe wins to the eihlei-i Th II \Y t r e eelhe theh heih he te e tl e e h W theh m al iteehe ee. the ee ieeii efthedev e he. tet ie; In the. mqd'fiqe qll ehewh F gure. 5 th w n eh 3.2. e tehe n a. Y heee the heif hem e o 99. 121 1! @4- T edeh ieem lie, dee ribed. es v-she ee members h vih ehe' leg in common and the other legs dis po d' opposite sides of the common leg at he eh other a ehe ei t e .i

r eeenteq ti nii hit-we hi p di in y the the he mee i ehehvei F e l, in rde'r that the r ding will take place n a distributed of t e s atiana 31th e53 fed l e .sei ih eeiei ieeiee I Fi ure 5 he ,ehe ieu tie "it? re lueeld en. eihele toot 5 P S 4'1 65 ehe l he 1 tee, .v

h Us wh eh in her, e1, t ar The op n an le/e1". the 9 an 2 5 a e it er eas t h ut. di tertieh i their. 5 5-. ,7 o h emboe rh ,t Eieerefi'iethe esf at of Figure l xceptiqn as previously s" ta that the heh l e iieitefihiiied more three the wings 3 and Q32 between the angle of the Y end the heiitame Figures 6 to 9 illustrate a modified construction. The L-shaped blank as shown in Figure 6 has longer legs than that shown in Figure 2. These legs are folded on themselves to provide two bends in each wing lying on opposite sides of the common portion. Thus each leg has an attaching portion 50, an intermediate leaf portion 52, and a, corner or common portion designated 54.

In forming these portions to the completed piece of Figure 7, a slight radius 56 is preferably provided at each bend. The rounded portion as shown has a diameter greater than the thickness between the leaves of the unit. It would be possible with some materials to fold the legs direct- 1y with no radius.

In Figures 8 and 9 the device of Figure 7 is shown in operation with shafts 65 and Bi attached as previously described in relation to Figure 4. The operation of this modified form is somewhat different in that the various portions are closer together, and it is possible for one leaf 50 to bottom against the intermediate leaf 52 in the compression part of the movement, as shown in Figure 8, while leaf 52 opens from the central portion. As shown in Figure 9, the intermediate leaf 52 bottoms against the central portion 54 when the other side is opening.

This modification serves to provide a slightly smoother operation with more positive torque in some applications of the device.

, In Figure 11 is found a completed joint of the type illustrated in Figures 1 and 4 in which shafts 40 are welded directly to the outer wings 64 and 66 of the coupling. The manner of this joining is illustrated in Figure 10. A slotted block M of hard conductive material such as welding electrode metal is inserted between the wings and center portion of the coupling to serve as a combination anvil and conductive shunt. The shafts 40, each being attached to one side of a welding circuit are brought directly up to the unperforated wings. The welding circuit is completed between the shafts through the shunt block 4| and the ends are resistance or projection welded to the wings. The series arrangement between the shafts insures a positive weld at each end. I have found that this provides a very serviceable weld which does not interfere with the operation of the joint. This method of attachment of the rods is fast and inexpensive and could be applied to any of the above described modifications.

What I claim is:

1. A torque transferring device including a flexible coupling element of resilient sheet mate rial comprising a central portion, a wing portion on opposite sides of the central portion, One wing portion connecting to the central portion along one edge of the central portion, the other wing portions connecting to the central portion along another edge of the central portion at an angle to'the first connecting edge, said wings being apertured in an out-of-round hole, and rotatable members on each side of said element having portions inserted through said apertures, and headed over to lock against withdrawal and relativ rotation with the respective wings.

, 2. A torque transferring device including a flexible coupling element of resilient sheet material comprising a central portion, a wing portion on opposite sides of the central portion, one wing portion connectingto the central portion along one edge of the central portion, the other wing portion connecting to the central portion along another edge of the central portion at an angle to the first connecting edge, said wings having a round hole and notches in the circumference thereof, and rotatable members on each side of said element having round projections inserted through said apertures in a fairly snug fit and upset to flow over the margin of said hole and into said notches.

3. A torque transferring device including a flexibe coupling element of resilient sheet material comprising a central portion, a wing portion on opposite sides of the central portion, one wing portion connecting to the central portion along one edge of the central portion, the other wing portion connecting to the central portion along another edge of the central portion at an angle to the first connecting edge, the wings being disposed at an angle to the plane of the central portion, rotatable members on each side of said element, and portions on the members disposed at an angle to the axis of the members passing through said wings normal thereto and locked in place.

4. A flexible coupling element of resilient sheet material comprising a central portion, a wing portion on opposite sides of the central portion, a bight portion connecting one wing portion to the central portion along one edge of the central portion, a bight portion connecting the other wing portion to the central portion along another edge of the central portion at an angle to the first connecting edge, each bight portion being apertured between the edges thereof to reduce the amount of metal therein thus facilitating bending of the bight without reducing the torque transmitting capacity.

5. A device for transferring motion comprising two rotary shafts subject to being disposed at angles to each other and a universal type of coupling between the two shafts comprising a single piece of material of sheet stock possessing spring characteristics, said piece having an intermediate uniplanar body portion, a uniplanar wing on one side of the body portion connected to one edge of the body portion by a bend in the material and which is rigidly connected to one of the rotary shafts independently of the central portion, and a uniplanar wing on the other side of said body portion connected to the body portion by a bend in the material at right angles to the first bend and connected rigidly to the other rotary shafts independently of the central portion, said bends in the material comprising bight portions of uniform thickness, each of said shafts being connected to the respective wings in a portion piercing the wing and a headed portion lying inside each wing.

JACK S. BEECHLER.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,042,885 Budd et a1 Oct. 29, 1912 1,557,958 Anderson Oct. 20, 1925 1,819,281 Dexter Aug. 18, 1931 2,246,750 Murphy June 24, 1941 2,433,791 Smith Dec. 30, 1947 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 570,282 Germany 1933 

